HV Lab staff celebrate opening of new research space

Staff and students at the Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory are celebrating the completion of construction work in the Lab which has provided valuable new space for high voltage research.

The High Voltage Laboratory moved to its current location in 1991 and was refurbished in 1997. Since then it has undergone various extensions to keep up with growing research activity. The impressive second testing hall and materials/measurements laboratory was completed early in 2004 allowing for testing large equipment and simultaneously taking sensitive measurements. The HV lab is now one of only two in the UK which offers such a wide range of facilities for research and industry.

Over recent months work has been carried out to triple the space available for smaller items requiring high voltage supplies for testing by constructing a new mezzanine floor in the Lab.

This increased area meets the current demands of the rapidly growing postgraduate research activity within the HV Lab as well as continued commercial testing. It also generates space for undergraduate students in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, working on individual research projects and group design projects in the final years of their degree programme. This year the School will enrol the first students on the new MSc programme Energy and Sustainability with Electrical Power Engineering and they will also be able to work in the Lab.

Dr Paul Lewin, Manager of the Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory, commented: "We look forward to the first student entry on to our new MSc in Energy and Sustainability with Electrical Power Engineering in October. Part of our commitment to this new course has been to expand our research space to ensure that our MSc students have the ideal environment to develop their dissertation topics. The Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory has an international representation for its work in insulation systems and related technology and our research facilities are second to none.”